


E-class Outsiders

by Inkswirl95



Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: Angst, Dealing With Trauma, Don't be afraid to tell me, Fighting, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I will tag whatever you need tagged, If you have any suggestions, Junior high life, Mentions of Death, Or any requests to have it tagged as, Parent abuse, Slice of Life, Violence, but that's not the main focus, divergent from canon somewhat, mentions of abuse, rare mentions of relationships, speaking of which, will add more as I write
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2020-03-08 08:12:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 21,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18890656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inkswirl95/pseuds/Inkswirl95
Summary: Here I will be posting the on-going stories of my Assassination Classroom original characters, Kei Saito and Kouji Inoue. I hadn't really planned on doing this, but I decided to try thanks to the amazing jdphobe both here on AO3 and on Tumblr, as well as the amazing people on discord. Both students have problems of their own, and they have to balance that between school work, as well as finding out the world may be destroyed if their strange teacher isn't killed before graduation, and dealing with the main campus kids to boot





	1. Kei's Moral Conflicts

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, plugging jdphobe's fic, Adventures in Solitude here because it's amazing. I love how well the characters are written, as well as how the situation of them growing up is taken since the end of Assassination Classroom. Seriously, check it out. I only hope I can do something decent in my writings.
> 
> Also, I am doing my research as thoroughly as possible for the Shinto religion, but if there seems to be something off, don't be afraid to tell me. I would much rather be told something is upsetting you than being ignorant of a person's religion. With that said, I also want to focus mostly on Kei himself, as he has some problems of his own to work out outside of it so there won't be too much detail about the traditions and their faith, so hopefully, it won't be uncomfortable for anyone.
> 
> Assassination Classroom and its characters belong to Yusei Matsui.
> 
> And this chapter takes place after the mid-terms and the class trip to Kyoto.

It was quiet, only the sounds of the ticking old clock, as well as the scratching of pencil on paper, were heard. The young man inside the empty classroom breathed silently as he tried to focus on the worksheets in front of him. He heard the other kids outside, grunting and yelling as they had P.E. The teenager ignored them as much as he could, writing down his answer to a complicated math question, head slightly turning as he looked between the sheet of paper and the calculator he had beside it.

After a few more minutes, however, he groaned, throwing his head back and setting the pencil on the desk. Nothing was working. No matter how much he tried, he couldn’t focus on his work. Instead, his mind swimming and head throbbing from the information he was forced to accept in just a few days.

First, he was told that he was missing too much school work, too often dozing off in the middle of class and so he was being transferred to E class, to be fair this was something he was expecting. He knew the school’s high standards meant no kidding around. But between his work as a priest and school, he could barely sleep most nights, being plagued by dark thoughts and doubts. He wished he had a better excuse, but he did not.

What he did not expect, however, was that after that day of class, a government official was waiting for him, and took him off to their office building. At the time, he was terrified, trembling slightly in the empty car, unable to come up with a reason why he was being brought there. Why would the government want a young boy who was being taught to be a priest?

The answer was much more surprising than anything he could have come up with. He tried thinking back on the day more, the day his life was turned upside down, when he felt something hit his forehead, making him jerk up, almost tipping over in his seat as one classmate laughed through the open window.

“What’s the matter, had to take a break for your prayers? Or are you just giving up already?”

The red-haired kid taunted, smirking as the boy sighed, picking up the eraser that was thrown at him, “Akabane, what are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be doing P.E.? And where did you take this from?” he asked as politely as he could, going over to return the eraser the troublemaker most likely stole from one of the desks.

Karma shrugged, “Karasuma wanted me to check up on you since the Octopus decided to leave you to work alone.” he said, pointing to one of the nearby desks as the dark chocolate haired boy set the eraser away. “But seriously, why are you spacing out? I never seen you do that before. Or are you communicating with the spirits?” he said, leaning on the window sill.

Kei sighed, knowing that he was just trying to get under his skin, “I’m more surprised that you all weren’t freaking out. How do you even manage, knowing he could obliterate everything without a second thought?” he asked exasperated.

Sure, everyone noticed that the E class had recently become more tight-lipped than usual, way more focused as well, but no one was going to bother asking. Not even he would be seen with them during school hours. That was before he was transferred in after bombing the midterm from being late.

“Nah, he won’t do that. Sure, he’ll destroy the planet if we don’t kill him before the deadline in March, but he has a promise to keep us safe. He’s not one to do things just out of boredom.”

“I just don’t get it! Why? Why would he be willing to teach here if he’s decided he’s going to kill us all in the end anyway? He can go Mach 20, his strength is unbelievable, and just... It just makes no sense to me how he could exist! I can’t even think or imagine a Kami with that sort of power!” With a sigh after his confused shouting, he flopped down into the desk by the window, not particularly caring whose seat it was at the moment.

His head throbbed, putting a hand to it. His life was just so... Normal not even a week ago. But now he was just supposed to accept that this creature was the reason behind the moon being blown up and for some reason decided to teach a dead end class before blowing up the Earth all the same in March? He just could not wrap his mind around it, any which way he tried looking at it.

Sure, his family were all firm believers in Shinto and the Gods of the world, from the ground itself, to the people who turned into spirits, and to the great sky above. He knew many of the stories, having been studying them since he was five. He could point out important statues and landmarks in a heartbeat through town.

But Korosensei was just something he couldn't understand. Sure, he was nice, but nothing at the moment explained his actions. Why be a teacher? Why blow up the Earth? He knew there was something missing. Something was being hidden from them.

The redhead shrugged, sitting on the window sill looking out. “I’m not going to pretend to know about that, but unlike a goody two shoes like you, we’re all going after the ten billion. It’s the chance of a freaking lifetime. With that kind of money, no one would have to work themselves down to the bone just to get what they want. We won’t have to worry about our futures. But I get what you’re asking.” he said, “I can’t deny that I’ve wondered the same things, but between the ten billion or the planet blowing up, we haven’t really had the time to even ask them.”

Kei watched him in silence for a bit before sighing, getting up and going back to his desk, picking up his pencil once again. Karma shrugged, getting down, “Well whatever, just don’t get in our way, considering you aren’t even helping us save the world, the one you pray to.” he said, walking off back towards the others.

The shorter of the two snapped back, “You’re the one bugging me about this! Even if he is going to blow up the Earth I refuse to kill anyone, it’s just wrong!” and shook his head, turning back to the work in front of him, starting hard on it once more just to spite Karma.

It’s true, his first week in E class was rough. He refused to participate in the assassination attempts, or even conversations the others tried to take up with him. Every time Korosensei tried helping him with work, he turned away, feeling uncomfortable around everyone, especially the wiggling tentacles. He had felt bad seeing the tall octopus pouting in the corner whenever he turned down the teacher’s help, but the fact that he had blown up the moon helped Kei solidify his resolve.

While the rest of the class was relaxed enough to talk to each other about plans for attacking their strange teacher, he sat in the back, keeping to himself as he worked on his class work. If he could just get his grades back up, he could get back to at least D class, which also meant he could get into the highest temple’s classes without straining his family for money.

A few minutes later though, he looked up to see how long until p.e ended when he noticed said teacher sitting up front, surrounded by traditional Shinto symbols, also having brought in a small model of a Shinto shrine, as well as dressed up in a simple priest’s garment.

“What are you doing? When did you have the time to do that?!” Kei shouted, surprised at the sudden appearance of the yellow teacher who started laughing.

“Well hello to you as well, Kei, how are you doing? Think you have a handle on the problems?” Korosensei asked, walking over to him, though not too close to make him uncomfortable. “I noticed how involved in your family’s temple, so I just wanted to take some time to really study it. And I must say, it’s all very interesting and amazing,” he stated, keeping a respectable distance. “Now I understand more about why you seem so hostile towards myself. Your family worships the moon god, so I must apologize for what happened,” he said, bowing slightly.

Kei blinked, watching him. “Uh, well yes we do. It was a large part of our prayers, and well my family was upset when we heard it was partially blown up. We had spent the next week giving our thanks and offerings to Tsukuyomi, grieving for our loss.” he said simply, looking outside, seeing what was left of the moon. Sure, it made his heart ache at such a loss, but for some reason, it felt... Hollow to him.

During the whole time since the incident, he’s been left feeling guilty about it all. He’s done what he could to comfort his family, trying to pass it off as he’s just being strong for them, but it was something else. He just couldn’t place what it was.

He jolted a bit, feeling a tentacle lay on his shoulder, looking up at Korosensei, who had changed back to his regular outfit, “Kei, I have a request, if you would be so kind. Would you be interested in helping me teach your classmates about the Shinto religion? I have heard their comments on your reaction to it, and I just thought that if they knew how important it is to you, they wouldn’t be so cruel. And hopefully, you all would get along, even if just a little.” he explained with a big smile. Even though they were quite small, Kei saw hope in those beady eyes of his teacher.

Thinking it over, he knew that he wasn’t being kind about it either. A priest is supposed to be kind and wise, helping others understand the Kami and spirits. “Well, I could, I just need some time to prepare some things,” he said, twirling the pencil in his fingers as he thought.

“Excellent, would this Friday work? And if you need any help, I would be more than happy to assist bringing in some things too.”

“Ah, thank you Korosensei, but I don’t think it would be wise for you to meet my family, considering what happened.”

Soon enough, the end of P.E. came, Korosensei having cleaned up his little version of a temple in time for English class, Irina coming in to start it once it was time, the day going on as normal from then.

At the end of the day, Nagisa was packing up his things, talking with Kayano about manga when he noticed out of the corner of his eye Kei was looking down at his lap, looking like he was sulking. He frowned a little, thinking that earlier Karma might have given him a hard time about not helping them with assassinating Korosensei again. “Hey, have you noticed Kei has been looking a little lost since we got back in from P.E.” he mentioned to her, though trying to be sure he wasn’t being heard. Kayano nodded, glancing at him as well.

“Yeah, I know. Maybe having Karma check up on him wasn’t the best idea. You going to try to talk to him again?” She asked, tilting her head slightly. Nodding, Nagisa stood up, walking back to where he was sitting.


	2. A Businessman Breaks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we get to meet Kouji Inoue, and learn a bit about how his life is like at this moment, a day or so before the trip to Kyoto.

There was something strange about E-class. While they were still the lowest class in terms of grades and behavior, their attitudes were different. They were more confident, tight-lipped, and cautious since the beginning of the year.

Not to mention how weird the new teachers were at assembly. First, the blonde one was smothering Shiota's face into her cleavage, with the stoic one dragging her away. Then the one that suddenly appeared. 

He wasn't sure why no one else seemed fazed by how wrigglery and freakishly tall he was, nor how they just seemed to laugh it off when the blonde tried stabbing him. It made no sense, and he knew Gakushuu would be thinking the same.

Through the days leading up to midterms, he noted that while of course, Gakushuu was working A-class thoroughly through studies, he was distracted. But in a scheming way. No one else could see through his carefully crafted mask, see that he was just waiting for an opportunity to strike and learn the E class' secret. To also bring down his father in the process.

Though with him now being in D class, he couldn't get close to ask questions anymore, and he didn't want to either. He had trouble with his own parents, with them always breathing down his neck to be their "perfect little boy".

Even so, when he saw a chance to try and get some news about it, he took it, including this evening, seeing Shiota walking alone, lost in thought. Putting a smile to his face, Kouji walked to catch up to the shorter boy, "Hey, Shiota. How are you?"

Nagisa paused at the voice calling to him, looking back to see Kouji Inoue walking towards him. "Oh, hey there Kouji… I'm doing fine, how about you?" he asked, waiting for the other to catch up just to be polite. For the most part, he wasn't sure what to think of him. Everyone knew that Kouji and Gakushuu were close when they were younger, but then rumors spread that Kouji just snapped and they both got into a huge fight before Kouji started intentionally failing his classes.

He hadn't even tried to hide it, going from a polite quiet kid that greeted everyone that came his way with a grin to a guy who would just pass people without looking, leaving abruptly whenever someone tried talking about his parents.

He also has heard that Kouji took to going around to his friends' houses and sleeping on their couches, more recently switching to just getting a room at nearby hotels and paying them off with the money he got from selling whatever his parents bought for him.

"I'm doing fine, just taking a walk. How have you been in E class? No one's heard from you ever since you were transferred." Kouji decided to just take it slow. Even though he doesn't respect his parents as much as in the past, they still taught him all the tricks and tips to being a good businessman, including how to worm his way through people's defenses to find any opportunity to learn just what they wanted.

"It's been fine. I don't mind it as much as I thought I would."

"That's good, at least you're comfortable being where you are."

"Comfortable seems reasonable. Enough at least,"

"Well, I wouldn't worry too much about the main campus. Just a bunch of stuck up puppets if you ask me."

"That's a bit harsh. Still not talking to Asano?"

"As far as I know, that bridge has long since shattered."

Nagisa shrugged, "We're all still in Junior High Kouji, who knows? Maybe you'll make up later on." But even as he said this, his eyes couldn't meet Kouji’s, almost looking apologetic and like he was telling the fattest lie ever. For some reason…

It sent shivers down his spine.

But he ignored it, putting it off as just guilt of knowing Kouji was right and he was wrong.

"Maybe, but I'm not that hopeful. I'm even thinking of moving away after high school. So we probably won't even see each other after that point." He said instead, looking up at the sky, putting his hands in his pockets.

Nagisa frowned a bit, “Then why are you even hanging around me? Or even just letting your grades bomb? You could have been anything, yet you just seemed to give it up. No one understands why.” he said, determined to get at least something out of the seemingly rouge A star student.

Kouji held back a bitter laugh, his eyes glazing over slightly, thinking back on the past four years he’s been through. “Heh, in my opinion. It’s much better to be a free loser than a successful puppet. I do regret that fight with Asano… But I already made up my mind.” he said, straightening up, “I don’t know what I’ll be right now, but what I do know, is that I want to be my own man. And the best shot of being that is to be in E class it seems. I mean look at you all. Last year, you all were so quiet and resentful at the main campus. Though I understand why, what I don’t understand is why now you’re all becoming so confident, so… Happy.” he said, looking at Nagisa, curiosity shining in his eyes.

“What makes this year so different for you all?”

“Ah, well, it’s thanks to Ko- I mean… Professor Karasuma. Uh, sorry, but I have to go now. I hope you find your answers Kouji, and you can call me Nagisa.” Nagisa quickly said, bowing slightly to him before running ahead and around the corner.

Kouji stood there for a minute. He knew he almost had Nagisa to tell him at least their teacher’s name, but something scared him so much to stop himself. He frowned, clutching his school bag’s strap a minute harder before sighing, soon walking back towards the more hotel oriented streets.

A few minutes of walking later, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket, soon taking it out and seeing he got a text message.

Spawn of the Exorcist [5:03 pm]: Hey, we need to talk.

That was the first message he got from Asano since their fight, so it must have been something big if he was willing to initiate the meet up first.

This was going to be an interesting year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I know that this is a bit longer than Kei's chapter, but I was able to focus more this time. Maybe at some point, I'll go back and rework it, for now though, Kouji is a bit of a spider waiting to strike. His parents have businesses in different corporations, and so they taught him how to dig deep into someone's character before they figure him out. But towards the middle of last year, he and Gakushuu had a fight, about what? You'll just have to wait and see.
> 
> And even though normally, Nagisa would probably never let Korosensei's existence slip, he was just caught off guard at how much emotion Kouji was showing. Though don't worry, he'll meet Korosensei soon enough.
> 
> Btw, Gakuhou is pretty much like the Exorcist to me, so that's the reasoning behind Gakushuu's contact name in Kouji's phone, and no it wasn't recent either, it actually started out as a joke between them.


	3. Kei Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we get into the Kyoto trip a bit. Though Kei has opted out of the assassination groups once again, it's for good reason this time. And even though he is away from the others, he has a bit of excitement of his own before the day is over.

It was the day of the train ride to Kyoto. A beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky, the class was buzzing with excitement, not only for the trip but also their assassination plans. Karasuma had brought in some sniper to work with them to try and shoot the yellow octopus at different stops. Most groups felt confident about their choices.

Kei, however, was not going to join.

On Friday, as planned, he had made a presentation about the Shinto religion, also talking about how much history his family had with it. He had shown his determination to follow what was expected of him, and the class accepted him fully, apologizing for making fun of him earlier for it. He also apologized for his rude behavior towards them.

Even so, he still refused to participate in actually killing Korosensei, since the thought made his stomach twist in knots. So he was granted permission to leave the class to join his Aunt and Uncle, Korosensei having given him some work to do while he was there instead of the big class itinerary book.

Once at the station, he was talking with Sugino while they waited to board the train. "I still can't believe how no one's really noticed him, I mean, he has tentacles coming out under his uniform, and most of the fingers in his gloves are just flopping around."

"Haha, that is true. You'd think after the moon blew up that people would be more cautious. Guess they're just trying not to really think about it." He replied, arms behind his head. "But hopefully it stays that way. I mean, I won't worry my family, telling them that our teacher was the one responsible."

Kei nodded, having been too nervous to even tell his own family anything about class, even though his younger brothers kept teasing him and trying to get something out of him like the pests they've always have been. Plus, he loved them dearly, too much to scare them. "To be honest, my brothers would probably make jokes about eating him if they knew he looked the way he does."

Karma suddenly wrapped an arm around his shoulders, making him jump, "Hey, you know, that might not be a bad idea. We could fry him up and sell him as a once in a lifetime opportunity to eat an extinct octopus." Kei frowned at his laugh after the statement while Sugino and Nagisa just sighed.

Soon after Irina was walking up to the class in her high fashion outfit, making Kouji look away, embarrassed. Sure, having Korosensei as the one who blew up the moon was hard, but having this woman who just seemed to just want to show off her figure as much as possible was much worse, as he was just never into body images like the other guys. It just made him feel gross, feeling more inclined to want to switch back to Korosensei for his literary lessons since professor Karasuma was only qualified as a P.E. Teacher.  
He was glad that professor Karasuma was able to somewhat tame them both, happy that he was a sort of the anchor of normality in all of the chaos. It was much easier to go to him just to try and talk things out, if not for the fact that Karasuma couldn’t reveal any more information to him. Kouji didn’t really mind though, learning about Korosensei just through his personality was more than enough for him.

Once they were all inside and seated, Nagisa turned to him. “Hey, I was just curious, what do your Aunt and Uncle do? Do they also have a shrine?”

Kei shook his head, “They still practice, but they visit our own since Dad is head of the family now. My Aunt owns a flower shop, and my Uncle has a dojo actually. I train with my cousins there once in a while. It’s fun,”

“That is pretty cool. I hope you have fun, we might see you around anyway though.”

And as the ride went, between Irina pouting about not getting to wear her fancy clothes and Korosensei missing the train and sticking to the side, Kei was enjoying himself. As much as he could be anyway.

Once they were dropped off at the station, Karasuma stopped him, “Are you sure you don’t want a ride to your relatives’ place?”

“Don’t worry Mr. Karasuma, they aren’t far. Besides, my Aunt wanted me to pick up something for dinner tonight before I got there. I’ll be fine.”

“Alright, if you say so. Just be careful, and you have our numbers if you need anything.”

“I know, and I’ll be sure to call if I’m in trouble. Thank you for your concern.” the teen said, giving a gracious bow to his teacher before waving to the class and heading out of the station, soaking in the warm rays of the sun.

He always enjoyed the filled streets of Kyoto and the beautiful scenery around. It just was much more full of life than the simple shrine his family owned, having a more tranquil feel about it which boarded on feeling creepy to him at some points, thinking Kamis would be watching him from everywhere he couldn’t see. Judging him. He would never tell his parents though, not wanting to upset them or the spirits somehow. He learned how to be silent about his own wants and needs, most of the time sneaking up on even the most alert person, though never having any ill intention to them.

Soon he reached the general store nearby, walking into the cooled building, careful not to bump into any other customers, blending in with the crowd. As he walked, he took out his phone which had his notes on what to grab for dinner, going about and grabbing what was on the list.

Just as he was about to leave the seafood section, he saw someone wrapping his hand around a pocket knife, watching another customer. He was fully alert to what the man was doing. The girl looked no older than twenty-five, with long black hair and yellow eyes, wearing what seemed to be a clerk uniform for a business office, maybe a front desk clerk.

He quickly retreated, finding an employee who was stocking the shelves. “Sir, I have an important favor to ask you. Please, call the police, there’s a man with a pocket knife watching a lady. I’m going to follow them and make sure I don’t lose them. And can you please hold onto this for me?” he whispered, putting on his best serious face as he quickly handed the handbasket with his items in it to the shop worker before he could answer, Kei silently walking back to follow the dark-clad stranger, as both he and the woman left the store.

His breath was silent and even, his senses were sharpened, watching every movement from the guy stalking the woman in front of him. He could see some dark stains on the back which looked to either be blood or booze, the smell of garbage coming off him in waves in the heat of the sun. His brown hair ragged and showing cut wounds on his scalp. 

Kei’s muscles were relaxed, time seeming to slow down as he reacted to the man catching up to the woman and quickly covering her mouth with his giant hand, her alarmed yelp barely getting out as the young man wretched the behemoth away.

Quickly with practiced moves, he managed to stun the perpetrator and knock him to the ground, pushing all his weight onto the stranger to keep him on the ground as the woman looked back in shock and horror, her bags of groceries dropped to the ground and forgotten.

“Miss, you should stay back! I got this!” he yelled to her between grunts as he struggled with the man under him, other adults soon coming to help keep him pinned down as police were driving to the scene.

After a few minutes of questioning and going back to the store to confirm with the employees and their cameras, the man was pushed into a police car with one officer staying with Kei and calling his Aunt and Uncle. Kei sighed, sitting on the bench outside the store as he did, shaking a bit now that he’s had time to realize what fully happened.

“Excuse me... “

Looking up, he saw it was the woman standing in front of him, looking a bit stressed, relaxing when he gave her a confident smile, “Are you okay Miss? I’m glad I caught him before he could actually do anything to you.”

The woman nodded quickly, “Yes, I am. I just wanted to say thank you so much. Most boys around your age wouldn’t have been able to help as you did. Is there anything I could do to repay you?”

Kei shook his head, “No, it’s okay. Really. I was just doing what was right.” He answered, shaking his hand gently. Suddenly, before they could say any more to each other, another woman suddenly swooped in, scooping him up like a pile of feathers and gushing about how proud she was of him, and how he was getting a “hero’s dinner” tonight.

“Aunt Haia! I get it, you’re proud, but you’re making a scene!” he said, flustered at his Aunt’s behavior. He was able to calm her down in a few minutes, but when he looked around again, he saw no sign of the woman he just helped and hoped she would be okay.

With that, he was finally able to buy the groceries needed, getting in the car and heading to his relatives’ house with his raving aunt beaming at how strong and brave he was, making him wish he could bury his head in the sand just imagining if any of the E-class heard her now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, even though Kei is working to become a priest, he is a bit of a badass from training with his Uncle at their dojo.


	4. Team Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kouji and Gakushuu make up just a little bit here, but they're still too stubborn to actually forgive each other even though they know it was both of them

The words Gakushuu had said were still ringing in his mind. Kouji was silent on the way to the train, and also while sitting in the first class seats with D class. His thoughts kept wandering back to last night.

Rumors of the government being around campus, that the new teacher, Mr. Karasuma, was an agent. Accusing his father of hiding something big in E-class.

Kouji looked at his old friend, a bit lost, "So why are you talking to me about this now?"

"You'll be able to spy on them." Gakushuu told him, leaning in quietly, "Our Fathers had a talk last night. After the trip, you'll be transferred to E-class. With this, we'll be able to knock those smug smiles off their faces. We'll throw them both off their high and mighty thrones, and be the ones in charge."

Kouji frowned uneasily, "But what if they throw you in there too if we're seen talking about it?"

"If my father wants A-class to succeed, he won't dare touch me." Even though Gakushuu was very confident as he said so, Kouji couldn't help but wonder if that was true, given what he knows about the Principal.

Their conversation was cut short as Gakushuu had gotten a call demanding him to go straight home. And so they left the cafe after making a plan to meet up in the middle of the night during their trip. He knew Gakushuu would do anything to win against his father.

But this seemed a little excessive.

Sure, Kouji wouldn't mind being in E class just to screw over his parents' "perfect" vision of him, but Gakushuu, with his wild temper away from his crowd, it just made him worry.

"If that's what you think, you can just get lost!"

"Fine!"

He sighed, shaking the memory of the last words they said in that fight. It still left a bitter taste in his mouth. Neither of them meant it, but the conversation leading up to it just left them boiling over with blind anger.

And now they were both too proud to make up for it in front of the other students.

Over the months afterward, he had heard more condescending lectures from his parents, prompting him to not even return home one night, and just getting into the habit of dropping by other students’ houses to help them study, then just forget time enough that he had to stay the night. Until he was caught by some of the other A class students. That’s when he turned to selling off the devices his parents gave him to try and entice him back to them. Using the money to get a nice and affordable hotel room.

During that time, he and Gakushuu had rarely spoken, and the only times they had were just to pass on notes between classes to make E class fall further behind, straight from the Principal himself. He was worried about how he was taking on his father alone since Kouji had always at least leant a listening ear and a peaceful house to forget about the father-son competition they had going on at home. He wasn’t even sure what happened to Gakushuu’s mother but knew not to ask either.

The months between the school year were the hardest though since he and Gakushuu had always gotten together with the top of the grade students to study more and get ahead with the Principal leading them. They would do whatever it took to get ahead, though sometimes he would help them all get away from the Principal, and they would have a day to just relax and have fun. Whether it was at arcades or parks. But he had dropped down to D-class. And he feared the worst that was to come for Gakushuu.

And it seemed he was right.

Coming back from break, he saw how cold and calculated his once friend had become. Sure, he still had connections everywhere, but it was just that. Connections. He wasn’t as emotionally attached to people as he was before. He turned harsh. And it felt like it was Kouji’s fault in the end.

There hasn’t been a day since school started where Kouji hadn’t thought about how he could have done something differently or phrased his own argument better. How he could still have been friends and helped him away from Principal Gakuhou. But now he knew it was too late.

Soon, they had all gotten off the train, and he saw one of the E-class students walk out alone after talking to the stiff teacher. He didn’t pay them any mind, instead following his own class off towards their hotel to get settled in before exploring the city. Up ahead, he saw Gakushuu talking with the others of his group, though he did turn his head slightly, catching his eye and nodded slightly to him.

Kouji made a small nod back, letting him know that he remembered their plan to meet up in Gakushuu’s room that night, claiming their fathers had wanted them to be at least back on speaking terms. He hoped that tonight would go better than the night before, where the air was thick with tension and despair from the lasting emotions of the fight, though it was mostly ignored, due to Gakushuu rushing to explain what he’s heard from the other students.

D-class soon went about their day, doing some sightseeing around the town. With nothing better to do, Kouji found a nearby park, sitting near the water fountain in the middle, enjoying the sun. After a few minutes, he took out a beautifully marbled ocarina, the flecks of gold in between the veins of dark green shone in the light, and began playing softly. A nice lullaby to help relax his own nerves.

“I can’t believe you still have that.”

The voice caught him off guard once he finished the song, and he jumped a bit, looking back to see Gakushuu, alone, a hand on his hip as he watched.

Weary, Kouji decided to ask, “Gakushuu? What are you doing here? I thought you were with the group.”

Shrugging, Gakushuu came and sat on the opposite side of the bench, taking in the scene before them, people going about their lives as normal as they walked, ignoring them, “It’s supposed to be a relaxing trip after midterms. I told them they had the day off. We all have to relax sometimes, isn’t that what you always said?”

“Yeah, true. I’m just surprised that isn’t a sore spot for you.” Kouji admitted, thinking that it was to him in his mind.

“Well, we could just forget about that. We both at least can admit we aren’t that good when it comes to making up to others.”

“Heh, I wish. You and I both know it’ll hang over us until we actually apologize, and just push us away further.”

They sat in an agreeable silence for a while after. Just taking in the chatter of the random passerby, and the sounds of birds nearby, the cars crawling pass on the road behind them. They both knew it was true. But neither of them wanted to say it first.

Shifting a bit, Kouji started again, “But, yeah, remember? It’s the last true gift my parents got for me I feel. It’s genuine. They wanted to make me happy. So I’m never letting this go.” he looked at the small instrument fondly, remembering how happy and excited he was when he unwrapped the box it came in.

“I can imagine. You’ve been practicing. You sucked before.” Gakushuu replied, mocking wincing and holding his ears, a playful look sent Kouji’s way.

“Hey, at least I can practice in public without an amp, Mr. Electric Guitar.” he frowned, playfully.

“At least my fingers can actually grip a guitar.”

“Not my fault my hands just won’t curl into a natural position for it.”

They both laughed a bit, the atmosphere almost back to how it was. It was nice, Kouji could see that Gakushuu needed somebody to banter with, the pent up tension in his posture relaxing, the light in his eyes coming back a bit, even giving a little grin.

After a few minutes, they both stood, Kouji putting away the ocarina, and they both walked in silence, getting to a nicer restaurant to get something to eat. On the way there, Kouji kept having to swipe his hair away, with how long it was getting. “I really need a trim.”

“Or you could just pull it back into a ponytail like Shang in Mulan.” the other boy teased, smirking and motioning to pull his hair up.

“I am not singing ‘make a man out of you’ at you, Asano.” Kouji shoved him lightly, a smile on his lips.

“As if I’d want you to, Inoue.” Gakushuu pushed back with a laugh, getting inside to order.

Once they were done with lunch, Gakushuu left to find his group once more, leaving Kouji to wander the streets until it was time to head back to the hotel for the night. He got his room key and headed up, taking a quick shower and looking himself over in the mirror once he got dressed in his robes. 

He took a lock of his brown hair, thinking for a bit, before brushing it back, ignoring the suggestion.

Soon he sat back in the bed, pulling out a textbook on astronomy, finding where he left off and started reading, waiting until it was time to have dinner in the hotel’s restaurant with the other students.

Throughout dinner, he felt a sense of irony, considering he was soon going to be in E class. He wonders how the others around him will feel, once they find out he’s being transferred, probably disgusted that they had to share a table with him. But he didn’t mind. He would rather see who his real friends were than sit in with a bunch of fakes. 

Recently, the way they’ve been treating E class has been rubbing him the wrong way too. They were trying to get their grades up and hard, as evidence of the recent test. But the main campus screwed them over with the added lessons by the Principal.

But that just seemed to make the E class work harder, which he admired. He was curious how they were going to react to him joining. How he could find a way to fit in.

After changing back into a clean pair of his uniform and brushing his teeth, he made his way to where Gakushuu was roomed after he texted him where to go and when. He checked his phone, getting to the door right on the dot, before knocking and going in once Gakushuu opened the door and let him inside.

The rooms were rather comfortable and had a good amount of space, the beds were at least full sized, though of course, Gakushuu had a king-sized bed. Being the son of the principal had its upsides, though it helped he was the top of the whole grade as well.

Soon they both sat down across from each other on each side of the small table.

“Well, what more did you want to talk about?” Kouji asked, sitting upright, knowing he had a long night ahead of him, ignoring the heavy tension in the air.

Gakushuu brought out the laptop he brought with him, soon pulling up the E class files. “I’ve been doing some digging. Their previous teacher just seemed to vanish. Though I have overheard she actually died in an accident. I can’t be too sure. And, the new teacher’s name is apparently Korosensei.” as he talked, he brought up the teachers’ files, giving it a quick once over.

“You mean like the Japanese word for ‘Unkillable’?” He was surprised, not only at the unusual wordplay but to also have “sensei” as part of his actual name was just bizarre.

Gakushuu nodded, pleased that he caught onto the name as well, “Exactly what I thought when I first read it. Strange thing is, there’s no picture of him anywhere that I can find." He said, gesturing to the blank picture on the teacher's file, "He doesn’t even have an age or any credentials stated anywhere. And only minimal information on the other two as well. Something isn’t right with that class, more than usual.” he said, turning the laptop over to Kouji to let him see the almost bare profiles of all the teachers of E class better.

After looking over them, Kouji turned to Gakushuu, “Right, now, how exactly will we be able to keep in touch? You know your father is going to make sure we’re separated.” he was sure that Gakushuu's father would somehow block them from talking to each other at all. It would have been too easy for Kouji to spill what was happening in E class to Gakushuu over the phone.

Gakushuu smirked, smug as he already knew the answer, “Easy, we’ll be able to lose him during the family dinners. You and I both know this won’t stop them from getting together to build relations and whatnot. Quietly get out behind their backs while they talk business.”

Kouji nodded. Their families still had dinners at each other's houses from time to time. It would be way too sudden of a change if they stopped now. “Alright, I’ll start going again. I wouldn’t leave you in the dark about something as strange as this.” even though tensions were high with his own parents, he knew Gakushuu would need someone to help him.

“I knew I could count on you.”

The confident smile and look Gakushuu wore, put Kouji more at ease. He felt good about this, even though they might get into some serious trouble with it. It felt like they were kids again, getting in trouble, trying to avoid Gakuhou’s exorcist stare while having adrenaline pumping through their veins. Except the stakes were much higher now.

Before, it just ended with a verbal lashing or disapproving stares.

Now, with everything that they’ve both witnessed in the short amount of time of third year, it felt like their own lives were put on the line.

Yet he had a feeling that Gakushuu wouldn't have it any other way. For the rest of the night, they made plans on how exactly to get around any obstacles they might come across.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just as a reminder, I'm going to post both Kei's and Kouji's chapters on Fridays, I just wanted to just post Kouji's since A: It actually builds a lot of groundwork for his half of the story, and B: It would feel weird if I overshadowed this part with Kei's story. And yeah, Gakushuu isn't as strict or standoffish as in the series, but that's because here he had Kouji to help him cope with his father at least a little more.


	5. An O-Kei Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kei has some trouble dealing with his new findings of himself, and Korosensei gives a helpful tentacle as always.

A cold draft wafted through the cracked open window of the spare guest room. Kei was sitting at the desk, a small lamp lighting up the paper he was writing for history. He tapped the end of the pencil on the desk, his other fingers gently tapping a rhythm silently on the desk. He took a glance at the illuminated clock on the bedside table, the green light showing it was about eleven fifteen pm.

He groaned silently, dropping his head onto his arms, feeling his head was tired, but his mind just would not shut down. He kept thinking of the man about to attack the lady he saved a few hours earlier. How he only now noticed how smooth his movements were. How quick and fearless he knocked the guy down. He had pushed away some bullies before, sure, but they were always around his age who were picking on his brothers.

Kei only took the dojo classes because there were certain traditions that needed the strength it gave him. But if he was being honest, he could have easily broken the guy’s bones. He’d be lying if the thought hadn’t crossed his mind. Even if it was just for a split second, it scared him. Looking at his hand, it was still trembling, though he lied to his uncle, saying he was just a bit cold, which wasn’t far off since his skin always felt a little icey.

With a sigh, he heaved himself up as quietly as he could, stretching before opening the window more and climbing out, feet easily touching the grass underneath. He walked over to the big tree in the back yard. Soon climbing its delicate branches to sit just above some of the roof lines, watching as different lights came off and on in buildings, shining through the windows and painting the area in different hues of white, yellows, and orange.

Suddenly the telltale sign of his strange teacher announced him, his tentacles sitting on the branches, holding another branch with cherry blossoms on it in one hand. “Ah, what a beautiful night, wouldn’t you say Kei? The sky is clear, and the stars are shining,” he said in an almost dreamy and tranquil voice as he spun the branch lightly, having a light smile on his round face.

Kei nodded, smiling slightly, “It is… But I thought you were at the hotel with the others?” he said, turning to look at the three-meter tall octopus. If someone had told Kei that he would be staring at a super being that looked like an octopus, yet was able to go Mach twenty and had incredible strength a year ago, he wouldn’t laugh in their faces, but he certainly wouldn’t believe him. But now, this whole scenario was almost normal to him. Almost.

“Don’t worry, everyone else is asleep, and I’ll be fine. But you shouldn’t be up this late, young man, you need your rest. Don’t think I haven’t heard of your little insomniac problem. Do you need to talk about it?”

Of course, Korosensei would know about his sleeping problems. It unnerved him a little at how easily the teacher could figure out their home lives, whether from just stringing it out by talking with them or by his own means. Being honest with himself though, he was grateful, no other teacher had ever noticed him like this before. It was refreshing.

“Sorry, Korosensei. But just, for years I’ve always had troubles sleeping. My parents tried everything, from lullabies, teas, and even rituals to get rid of any yokai if there are any.” Kei admitted, looking down at his feet, dangling from the branch, “All those methods though made it even harder for me to sleep… I don’t know why. I wish I could explain it.” his hands were gripping the branch so hard, his knuckles were turning white, feeling the bark digging into his palms, his voice coming out quiet, yet so helpless. “I want to get better, but my mind just won’t. I always feel like there’s something watching me. Judging me even though I basically know all of the rituals and traditions by heart.”

“I… I always feel, like I’m failing them somehow… Like I can be better, and do more. I have headaches from stress every other day. They reassure me that I’m doing fine, but I feel trapped and I don’t know why.” Kei had never told anyone before about how he was feeling, and he knew he was just dumping it out, but he couldn’t help it. He could just see that Korosensei would actually listen to him. That putting trust in his strange teacher would help somehow.

It surprised him though, when Korosensei brought a handkerchief out, wiping Kei's eyes from the tears he didn’t even notice were running down his cheeks. He looked to Korosensei, confusion and hope swirling in his being.

With a pat on the back, Korosensei started, “Kei, it’s okay, you don’t have to explain anything to anyone. You don’t need people to validate what you feel. You’re at a part of your life where you’re adjusting to the new feelings and just learning about the world. Sure, the world seemed perfect and magical when you were a child, but it has just as many bad things in it. You are doing great, Kei. But to me, it sounds like you’re just confused. Maybe even a little lost.” a tentacle brought out a picture of Kei’s family in front of their shrine, handing it to him.

In it, his father stood tall behind them all, a peaceful and happy expression on his face. His mother was right beside him, looking as serene and beautiful as ever. Kei stood between them, in a smaller version of his father’s outfit. His brothers all wore simple ordinary garbs, the three of them standing next to him from oldest to youngest.

“Now, I have one more assignment for you for this weekend Kei, if you’re up for it. Really study this picture, and write an essay on how it makes you feel. What’s different from when you and your family are dressed casually to when you are in your shrine clothes. How the shrine itself is present in your troubles. And most of all: Do you want to be a Priest?” before Kei could look at him and protest, a tentacle stopped him.

“I know it is a family tradition, and how important it is to you to live up to your family’s expectation. But, living a scripted life makes many people unhappy. Sure, they know what to expect and how to act, no worrying about getting lost. But, their choices are taken away because of it. Now, you don’t have to show me it, I just want you to think about it. But it is a requirement to do so. You do know that career choices are coming up this year, right? I expect you to have a solid plan for it. I know you can figure something out.” he said, smiling down at his student.

Kei was silent, looking at the picture again, feeling apprehensive about it. But, it also felt refreshing in a strange way. In that time, Korosensei had suddenly gotten a cup of warm milk and a sleeping pill, the bottle hidden. “Here. Take this, and get some sleep. Oh, and we will talk in class about your, eh-hem, situation from earlier today. Please, stay safe Kei.”

Heat rushed to his face as he blushed with embarrassment, “I didn’t know you saw that…” he mumbled, holding the cup and pill close.

“I caught sight of you when I was coming back from grabbing my pillow. I was going to take care of the man, but you actually beat me to it. It surprised me, to say the least. Now then, down you go.” Korosensei said, gently picking up Kei and floating to the ground with him.

Kei smiled a bit, “Thank you Korosensei… And I’m sorry to just dump that out on you…”

“Don’t be, everyone needs someone to let their feelings out to every once in a while. If you have any more doubts, don’t be afraid to come to either me, Mr. Karasuma, or even Miss Irina. You know we’re glad to help in any way, be it in assassination, or bad habits.” He said, laughing a bit to lift the tension a bit.

Once he saw to it that Kei had indeed drunk the milk and taken the pill, laying in bed, Korosensei flew off into the night, hoping this will help Kei realize what’s wrong. But even if he hadn’t, he promised to be there for him just as much as the rest of the class. For now, he thought it would be a good time to get some idea of who the new student will be, Kouji Inoue.

That night, Kei slept peacefully for the first time in years, holding onto the picture of his family.

The second day of the trip, Kei had used to help at his Uncle’s dojo, teaching the younger kids since he wasn’t exactly towering over them. He was putting off of thinking about the assignment Korosensei gave him, but he knew he’d have to get something done. His grades surely needed it. Around noon, he saw some of the others outside, going over and tapping on the window, getting Isogai’s attention.

The whole group was surprised to see him there, asking what he was doing at a dojo, even more surprised when he showed he was a black belt and that his Uncle trained him with his cousins since he was about six years old. “Of course it’s not a requirement as a priest, but the training helps my muscles, there is some heavy lifting,” he explained to them. Soon though, they said they had to leave to go with Korosensei, so they left and Kei resumed teaching the kids’ class, helping with their forms mostly.

One of his cousins came over, leaning on him, “So, those were your classmates huh Kei? Some of them were cute.”

Kei groaned, shoving her off as she laughed, “I’m not helping you get a date with my classmates Gina, we’re all trying to get our grades up. Besides, you know they don’t live around here.” he told her, shaking his head.

Gina smiled, ruffling his hair playfully, “Yeah, I know, you know I love teasing you. Someone has to be the big sister.”

“Only by a few months.”

“I’m still older than you~”

“I can pin you faster than you could react you know.”

Soon though Haruto, his uncle, reigned them both in, bringing them all out to eat, Aunt Haia even joining them as well once she knew where they were at.

Kei couldn’t help but compare both families. Meals at his own home was always proper and poise, while meals with his Uncle and Aunt were much more relaxed. No having to keep up appearances as part of the Shinto religion. No feeling of being watched and frowned upon if he messed up either his food or a story he was telling.

While he loved his own mother and father very much, it felt like they were always watching him, scolding him whenever he did anything “inappropriate” and always like he was walking on eggshells. They were much more lenient with his brothers. It was nice though when the boys all had the house to themselves whenever their parents left for a meeting or such, they would bring out all the games, taking out junk food as well, joking their hearts out.

His younger brother by a year, Eiji, was planning on becoming a priest too. He took to the work much faster than Kei had. He felt bad though since whatever work he has shown was overshadowed by what their parents expected of Kei. Kei tried to talk to them on Eiji’s behalf, but every time they turned it into a lesson for his own sake. But he did everything he could to help Eiji because that’s what brothers do. Not to mention they formed a sort of rivalry to keep each other going.

The third oldest, Hibiki who was younger than Eiji by three years, seemed to have taken a liking to writing. Kei wasn’t sure if he would keep up the hobby when he’s older, but if he was being honest, some of the stories Hibi could come up with were some of the funniest he’s ever read. Recently, they’ve gotten more serious, but also kept the humor that was unique to him, which Kei liked. Their parents, mostly their mother, encouraged him to do so, to explore his imagination.

The youngest, however, was chaotic. Sure, it was to be expected since Yokuto was only nine, but he was rambunctious. He would get into any place he wanted to, hide for hours at a time, and run off on his own during family outings. But he didn’t do anything dangerous, which Kei was grateful for, as well as Eiji and Hibiki, who would often have to chase after him while Kei was stuck in a ritual. Their father praised him to be so energetic, always having a smile even when Yokuto had made them all tired.

But Aunt Haia and Uncle Haruto, they treated both of their kids equally.

They expected all of them to do well in school, while still supporting their outside hobbies. Gave them all that they needed, always lending an ear to them. He wouldn’t say he’s jealous of Gina and her brother, but he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t thought about what life would be like if the roles were reversed.

That evening took them all for a surprise, as Kei saw Professor Karasuma at their door waiting for them, looking serious. He relaxed slightly when he saw Kei and his Aunt and Uncle come over.

Standing straight, Karasuma offered his hand to his Uncle, “Good evening. My name is Karasuma, I’m Kei’s teacher at Kunugigaoka Junior High. I know this may be sudden, but there has been an incident with his classmates and some other High Schoolers in the area. I thought it would be best to bring him back to the hotel, just in case they decide to sniff him out to cause more trouble.” Even though his words conveyed Karasuma was worried about them, he still made a clear line that he was first and foremost there to keep an eye on Korosensei.

Even though Kei saw through it clearly, his aunt and uncle were charmed by him and his concerns, “Ah, is that so? Kei’s told us a bit about you. It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Karasuma. Of course, we’ll let him go. Come in and have a seat while he gets his stuff together.” As his uncle always said, it was good to show a kind heart if you knew how to defend yourself. Kei was just grateful that the Government agent was on their side.

Karasuma shook his head, “Thank you for the offer, but I was hoping to get back soon. I’ll help him pack up.” he seemed anxious to get going, but kept his calm.

“Of course, come right in.” His aunt waved them both inside as she opened the door, letting Kei lead Karasuma to the guest room.

Kei could hear Gina and Natsuo gush over how handsome Professor Karasuma was, but he ignored them. “Is everything okay Professor Karasuma? And I don’t have much,” he said, walking over to get his bag, taking his books off the desk, grabbing his bag from inside the closet.

Karasuma nodded, “Everyone is fine, no one was hurt, too badly anyway. It’s just that Nagisa, Karma, Kanzaki, Okuda, and Sugino were rushed by a ruffian group of High Schoolers. The octopus went and got them all safe though, no need to worry. I just didn’t want them causing trouble for you.” Kei respected him for that since during the time he was at E class, he hadn’t been to any pe classes, having gotten a pass to use that time to focus on his grades more. Not to mention how small he looked.

As Kei was putting away his clothes, Karasuma turned and looked at the high-end laptop sitting on the desk, open with some programming tools for what looked like a complicated game. “Is this yours?” he asked, walking over and looking at the screen closely. He heard something that sounded like a squeak, as Kei smoothly dived under his arms, quickly shutting the laptop off and setting it in his bag.

Karasuma stared at Kei, watching him, “Uh, yes, don’t worry about that, it was just a silly little game! Anyway, I’m ready to go now, Professor Karasuma!” Kei quickly said, having everything packed up carefully.

Soon enough, Kei said his farewells to his family, going with Karasuma and getting into the car, silent as they headed towards the hotel everyone else was staying at. It seemed even more unusual than normal for Kei, who refused to even look his direction during the ride. But he wasn’t going to push the issue if Kei wasn’t going to talk. He was only a junior high student. No need to stress him out more than the government already has.

After a few minutes, they arrived at the hotel, Karasuma telling him where they were staying, soon parting for his own room for the night.

Soon enough, Kei was brought into the boys’ room, Isogai having had told them about the dojo.

“So, what’s this I hear about our little priest fighting some kids?” Karma asked, pulling him close with a smirk and poking his cheek, locking his head under his arm.

“Karma! Let me go! And I was just teaching the younger class!” Kei whined slightly, trying to get himself free from Karma’s headlock, but being surprised at how strong the other was.

“Why don’t you make me let go?” Karma smirked, keeping him steady, just waiting for Kei to make a move.

“I’m not going to let you goad me into fighting you. Now let go!” At this point, he was trying to just pull his head out before deciding it wasn’t worth the effort, going slack and letting out a breath.

“Karma, give it a rest. Didn’t you have enough fighting with the high schoolers?” Kei relaxed as Karma finally let go from Nagisa’s words, getting Sugino between them.

He was about to explain about the dojo better, but just then, he felt a pair of arms wrap around him, trapping him once more, “C’mon Kei, you know a lady loves a strong man,” Maehara teased, ruffling his hair, “I bet you have some swooning at you here.”

“Really Maehara? And no, I don’t! I’m not even interested in a relationship right now!” This time he was easily able to get away, playfully elbowing the other who backed up with a laugh.

For the rest of the night, they stayed up, fooling around mostly, Kei staying back when the guys and girls were going after Korosensei for barging into their gossip. Even though he still felt uneasy about the assassination attempts, he was genuinely having fun with E class, despite what everyone else said on the main campus. He felt accepted here, no strings attached.

The next day, however, was when another student was supposed to join.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this is a little longer than usual, but I felt bad giving Kei the short end of the stick, and if I didn't do it this way, his chapters would have been behind Kouji's which would just be weird. I hope you enjoyed learning more about him and seeing the kids interact!


	6. Octopus Meeting Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now it's time for Kouji to go in and sign the non-disclosure forms for transferring to E-class, though he doesn't exactly take any of it seriously. Then he meets the Octopus himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I have to admit, I had tons of fun writing just, Kouji's disbelief in the whole situation. He was taught to be a realist, and to have the line between fiction and non-fiction blurred like this, throws him for a loop. But don't worry, he actually already has one friend in the class to help him.

The next day was filled with exploring landmarks of the area of Kyoto, taking in history, math, and even arts, though nothing was really exciting. Kouji just followed the class, bored as ever since he’s always been ahead with studies. But he knew it was mandatory for D class and above, so he endured it, wanting to avoid detention or even worse, being sent to see Principal Asano.

That night, everyone had gotten ready to head home, Gakushuu busy preparing lessons with the other Virtuosos. It still felt surreal to have been making plans with him again, but it was still filled with tension and leftover anger, leaving the planning to just hide it instead of clearing the air between them. Even after their teasing the day before, Gakushuu had had an edge to his voice, but Kouji didn’t blame him.

Even after being surprised by the comfortable atmosphere they shared, nothing could prepare him for when he got off the bus with the other students, seeing two people in black waiting, calling to him.

“You are Kouji Inoue, right? Your parents sent us to fetch you. There’s something important.”

Kouji could hear it in the man’s voice and see it in his posture, this was just a bold-faced lie to trick the other students, considering it wasn’t out of the norm for his parents to try and send authority to bring him home nowadays. Kouji nodded, “Yeah, yeah, I’m coming, geez.” for the time being, he decided to play along, going in the car with them after getting permission from Ono-sensei. He saw Gakushuu was watching as well, giving a simple signal to say he was on guard.

Soon he sat down on the plush seats, waiting a few minutes into the ride. “So, who are you really? I know all of my parents’ trusted guards, and you two aren’t either of them.”

“We are government agents, and we have urgent news for you. You’ll know more once we get there.”

The cold voice and stiff postures he seen from the back tell him this was serious. The ride was silent, all the way to their office building, where he was lead to a dark room with a rather nice couch and coffee table, the rest of the hidden in the darkness, where a woman in a formal outfit stood.

“Please, take a seat, Mr. Inoue,” she said, gesturing to the couch where Kouji soon sat, looking at her. “I know this must be strange for you, but you must understand, we did not know where you would be tonight, on account of you switching hotels often.” she offered, talking as if this was a business meeting. It may have spooked any other student out, but Kouji was trained for atmospheres like this.

He nodded, back straight, though giving a light smile, “Yes, of course. Seeing as you’re the government, I can imagine you already know all about me. Let me guess, this is about E-class, right?” he took notice of how the woman seemed to stiffen in shock, staring at him, before he waved a hand in front of him dismissively, “Don’t try to hide it Ma’am, and don’t worry, I just figured this out both from watching them myself, and knew that I’d be transferred. Who wouldn’t be after my recent failing grades and poor attitude?” with that the woman relaxed slightly, nodding.

“Right, you are a clever young man. Fit to eventually lead your family’s business. But that is not why we brought you here.” She then brought out a folder, setting it on the table in front of him before he could say more, “Before we continue, I need you to read over and sign these forms, for protection’s sake. This is not a case to be taken lightly.” Kouji nodded, taking the folder and opening it, reading and picking apart every detail of the terms inside.

It was a tight contract, though he could see several terms he could take advantage of in the clauses to report to Gakushuu. One even said if a main campus student found out, they would immediately be transferred over to E class and forced to sign the same forms. Though he could not figure out a way to get the news directly to Gakushuu. He didn’t give anything away.

With a satisfactory nod, he picked up the pen provided, signing his name wherever was needed, setting them back in the folder they came in and giving it back to the woman, who set it out of sight, bringing out another folder. “Mr. Inoue, as you should remember earlier this year, the moon had been destroyed by seventy percent at least. Of course, the media had not been informed but we know what caused it. It was destroyed by an inhuman creature. His strength is beyond what anyone can imagine, and his top speed reaches Mach twenty.” Kouji was silent, nodding, curious as to why she would be telling him. It sounded too fantastic to be real. “The creature goes by the name Korosensei, he will be your new teacher in E-class. He said he wanted to teach your class before next March fifteenth, because he planned to do the same to planet Earth.”

“E-class was assigned to assassinate this creature before then, saving the world. If you are able to do so, the reward is one billion yen.” Kouji nodded slightly, keeping his face neutral as he opened the folder, seeing a profile for the same Korosensei they found out about last night. What put him off most though was the strange octopus character they chose for the picture. It honestly made him want to laugh at the absurdity. But he wasn’t about to laugh in the face of the government, he’s not that stupid.

It was disappointing though, that what Gakushuu was able to produce wasn’t too far off from what he’s seeing now on the Government’s profile. And even then it looked fake. He was supposed to believe this man was three meters tall? Sure, the “teacher” they saw at the assembly was tall, but he couldn’t be that tall. It feels like this was just an elaborate joke somehow set up by the E-class themselves.

Not to mention how the government wanted junior high students to kill someone. All of this just made him want to laugh and walk out. “So, we have to kill our teacher?”

“It’s out of the norm, we know, but we have no choice. We’ll be able to keep track of him more easily this way. We know where he is most weekdays, and he has made a promise to not harm any of you. Leaving him in a room full of people with the incentive to kill him, with no retaliating in a fatal way. Your classmates have already been debriefed, so once you transfer in, it’s up to you to figure out a way to do so. And if you break the non-disclosure agreement, you will be subjected to a memory wipe.”

It felt like he was suddenly in some kind of high school drama manga. The only thing he accepted was that the moon blew up because he could see it. Everything else sounded like it was made up by a lunatic. He didn’t know whether to laugh or do anything else, except nod. “Alright… I’ll keep that in mind. Don’t worry Ma’am, I’m a guy of my word.” It was the only thing he could do to keep himself from laughing in her face.

She nodded to him, “I hope so. Do you want a ride anywhere Mr. Inoue? We are done here.”

“Thanks but no thanks, I can manage myself. I hope you have a good evening Ma’am. Sirs.” with that, he stood, taking the profile for the supposed “teacher”, soon walking out with the two agents escorting him, making sure he went onto the sidewalk.

That night at the hotel, he spent most of it pacing about, trying to figure out a way to explain some of the details, but he couldn’t risk anything at the moment.

The next morning, he got to school early, knowing what was ahead of him. Sure enough, once he got to the front desk, the attendant stopped him, saying he was now in E-class. He heard some other students muttering amongst themselves, but ignored them, soon going towards the trail that leads up to the old campus. During the months he spent skipping out on going home, he built up his endurance, though he was a little tired once he actually made it to the top. He looked at the old building. It was almost sad, seeing how poorly maintained it had been.

Ahead of him, he could see some of his new classmates watching him. He put on a smile, walking over. “Hello there. I know this is sudden, but I was actually just transferred here today.” most seemed unimpressed by him surprisingly enough, but then one spoke out.

“Hey, you’re Kouji Inoue, right? Aren’t you friends with Asano? Surprised to see such a pampered businessman up here.”

He looked over, seeing Akabane watching him with a sly smirk. Yes, he knew all about the red-haired boy and his feud with Gakushuu. “Hello, Akabane. Not surprised to see you here after what you did.” he chose to ignore what he said entirely, knowing he loved getting a rise out of people.

“That’s right, you always did have a more level head than Asano. But just to let you know, you’re in way over your league here. This class isn’t anything like the main campus.”

“As evident by the government agents I met yesterday. I’ve been told what’s going on here, though it seems ridiculous. It’s just perfect for someone as violent as you though.” Kouji countered, just as quick. Unlike his banter with Gakushuu, there was no teasing in his voice. It was no secret that they had never gotten along. But he had spent some nights with Akabane as well, seeing who their parents were.

Before they could continue, the bell rang, and Kouji smiled, gesturing to the door, “After you Akabane.” which made the other boy scoff before heading inside, followed by the others who weren’t already.

Soon everyone was inside the class, Kouji finding a seat to the back. Everyone was waiting patiently before the door opened. Kouji’s eyes were like saucers, wide as a three-meter tall octopus humanoid entered the room. “Good morning children, I hope you all had a good night’s rest. Now we can get back into hitting the books. And I see our new student has made his way here too. Welcome, Mr. Inoue.” Korosensei greeted everyone, his smile as wide as ever.

He could see out of the corner of his eye that Akabane was holding back a laugh, but he was frozen to the spot, staring at the impossible.

Just what has he gotten himself into?


	7. Golden Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we learn a bit about how Kei can see people's feelings. And how he intends to help others find joy.

He felt a little bad for Kouji when Korosensei first walked in. He could practically feel the confusion coming off the other boy. Probably even more so than when Kei first saw the yellow octopus.

“Are you okay Mr. Inoue? You look a little frozen there.” The octopus teacher mentioned, laughing a little, stripes appearing on his head, “I bet you didn’t even take the government agents seriously when they told you about me. Well, just letting you know now, it’s all real. I can’t wait to bring out that amazing mind of yours. I hope you’re ready.” To which Karma laughed, making Kouji turn away, probably to keep himself from running out of the room like Kei had the first time.

Kei knew about Kouji a bit, their families having met a couple of times on business when the shrine had to be rebuilt. He felt bad, between having to get over the chaotic news of the Earth might be blown up to Karma teasing him. 

When lunchtime rolled around, Kei saw the other get up and walk outside, quiet. He went to stand up, but Kayano stopped him, putting a hand over him. “Don’t worry, I’ll go talk to him. I know him, we used to hang out a while ago,” she said, smiling before walking out, making Nagisa and Karma look at each other.

“Did you know about that Nagisa?” Karma asked, his lunch container halfway out of its bag. Nagisa shook his head.

“No, to be honest, I just met Kayano this year. This is news to me.” Nagisa shrugged his shoulders, watching as Kayano disappeared out the door after Kouji.

“Me too. Inoue and I had to pretend to be “friends” back in elementary, remember? And yet I’ve never heard of Kayano before this class.” Karma mentioned, leaning back, probably to see if he could watch them more.

Deciding to leave them alone for now, everyone got their food out, Kei bringing out his phone as well, doing some sort of work on it as he ate. He was just as confused as the other two once Kayano and Kouji came back, smiling and laughing with each other.

Just how did they know one another?

Even when Nagisa asked her, she shook her head, saying to not worry too much about it. But Kei decided not to comment on how she seemed to be lying through her teeth.

Throughout the school day after lunch, Kei tried to help Nagisa reign in Karma a bit to lay off of Kouji, but there were a few slip-ups and eventually, the two had to be split up. “Good luck with those two, Nagisa,” he told him as they went to get ready for PE.

Nagisa nodded, “Thanks, I’ll need it.” he joked back, soon going out. Korosensei laughed a bit, making Kei look to him.

“Boy, you sure have become fast friends with everyone after your presentation. Just like I told you. I’m glad to see you getting settled into class now.” Korosensei told him, bringing out several other books to get ready for Kei’s extra studies.

He smiled, nodding, “I am too. And I’m sorry for having caused any trouble before, I was just confused and alarmed by everything,” he admitted, bringing out his worksheets. A tentacle came out though, stopping him, “Huh? Is everything alright, Korosensei?” his eyes met with his teacher’s, confused.

“Aren’t you forgetting the extra assignment I gave you? Or did you need a time extension?”

“Oh, right! I got it here.” With that, Kei brought out a five-page essay, giving it to the octopus. “I’m still a bit unsure, but I at least have a direction to go with my questions now,” he told him, rubbing the back of his head. Korosensei nodded, his smile as big as ever.

“I’m glad to hear it. So, tell me about what happened with those strangers. We need to talk about it at some point you know,” Korosensei said, poking his student on the forehead playfully, though serious at the same time.

Kei nodded, looking away, “Well, like I told Professor Karasuma, I had to go to the supermarket nearby to pick up some things for dinner. But when I was just about done, I saw a man following a lady with a knife in his pocket,” he started, shuddering a bit at the thought of what could have happened if no one noticed, “So I got an employee to call the police while I followed them. Sure enough, the man went and grabbed her. But I was able to surprise him and knock him off balance, pinning him to the ground until police showed up and took him away,” Korosensei nodded once he was done.

“That was very noble of you, Kei. I’m glad you were able to help. But, I want you to be extra careful next time. For all you knew, the lady could have turned and shot you instead.” Korosensei warned, “I know it may sound ridiculous, but I mean look at this classroom. Sure you don’t actually participate, which I don’t mind either way as your teacher, but it just goes to show anyone you meet could have the potential to maim or even kill you." He said, looking him straight in the eye.

"The world is a cruel place if you’re not careful of those around you,” Kei nodded, knowing what Korosensei said was true. 

He’s seen how fast and sneaky some of the others could be, even Sugaiya when he had accidentally tripped, revealing the anti-Sensei BBs in the bubble tea he was bringing to Korosensei as a gift. Korosensei praised him for the ingenuity, though of course declined the spoiled attempt.

Soon enough, they got back to work on his studies, Kei quietly writing his answers down while Korosensei did some grading and test writing at the desk, as fast as ever. 

It was interesting to watch him work. How he was ever so confident in both the tests giving them all a good run down, while also believing his students could work through it.

But, sometimes, he would space out, looking out of the window at the rest of the class. Kei's eyesight was good, and he could see a sort of pain in the small eyes of his teacher, and the way he slacks, almost looking like he was about to cry.

This was one of those times, and Kei finally decided to see if he could help, "Korosensei, you seem sad… Are you okay?" As he asked, he set down his pencil, showing he was listening.

"Hmm? Oh, yes, I'm fine Kei, why do you ask?"

Kei frowned at him, "Sir, you don't have to tell me, but a lot of times I've been here, you almost looked on the verge of crying. The others might take advantage of it, but I'm worried."

Korosensei looked away, seemingly to gather his thoughts. "You're right Kei… And I'm sorry for worrying you, that's the last thing I should do. But I was just thinking back to an old friend… They died in an unfair way… I just hope I'm doing right by them by being here." Kei was surprised that Korosensei opened up even that much to him. But also was proud that he was able to see Kei as someone he could trust.

"I think you're doing great, Korosensei. This class is unconventional as all get out… But everyone here has learned so much more than what we could have on the main campus. You're the best teacher anyone could have. You're kind, generous, and you treat us so much better than the other teachers. You show us we're worth something. Even if I was freaked out at first… I'm glad I met you." Kei said with a big smile, though it faltered a bit once Korosensei started bawling, thanking him for being so kind.

Kei was glad that he was able to take away some of the sadness in his teacher's posture, going over and patting his back as he still cried into a handkerchief. During class, he seemed to work so hard to act like a goofball, but even during times like this Kei could see he could be so much more serious than any of the others see him as.

Part of his training growing up was to focus on a person's body language, to read what they needed to hear and when. And most of the time, Korosensei's face, voice, and even tentacles screamed out he was scared, worried for them all. That he might be doing something wrong.

After a few minutes, Korosensei waved his tentacle in front of his face, any trace of tears wiped dry. "Thank you so much, Kei. I… I needed that. Now, let's get back to work, shall we?"

With another smile, Kei nodded, sitting down at his desk, getting back into it.

It was a nice day overall, and Kei went home alone, feeling good about himself, and how Korosensei seemed to have an extra spring in his step, so to speak.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! It feels great to be posting another set of chapters! I still love this story, even with all the fluff I've been making, it's helped me clear my head and think about how I really want this fic to go! Hope you enjoy, and have a good one. ^^ Take care of yourselves!


	8. Kouji gets to E class!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we have Kouji taking on the impossible in his whole life, meeting an Octopus as his teacher and target. But he has a surprising friend to help with getting used to it all!

Seeing an honest-to-goodness giant Octopus walk into the classroom made Kouji freeze in place, ignoring the laughter coming from Akabane next to him. Sure, the agents seemed serious enough with the meeting, but for it to actually be real? It caught him off guard. He looked away, to gather his thoughts for a moment. For some reason, this all struck something in his memory. It reminded him of someone, but couldn’t figure out who for the life of him.

During class, he stayed quiet, only answering when Korosensei called on him. He kept his cool, keeping aloof. This whole thing was just so, he didn’t know what to make of it. Nor could he find a convincing way to tell Gakushuu about it.

He knew that if he went to tell Gakushuu than an Octopus destroyed the moon, much less that same Octopus was their target and they were supposed to kill him, without evidence would probably cast him out of the Asano’s lives forever. He had to play this smart.

Once lunch rolled around and Korosensei flew out, Kouji got up and walked out, needing time to think. He got outside, going over to a tree to sit under its shade when he heard someone calling to him. Kouji turned, seeing a green haired girl waving to him as she ran to catch up. Something about her seemed familiar…

“Geez Kouji, you don’t wait up for anyone anymore, do you?” she said with a laugh, rubbing the back of her head. Before he could say anything, she put a finger to her lips. “Shh. My name here is Kayano Kaede, I’m working on a part.” and giggled a bit. Kouji couldn’t help but see that she was lying, but he couldn’t tell why. So he let it slide while smiling.

“It’s alright. It’s been a long time Kayano, last time we talked was, what, five years ago?” It felt like a lifetime ago. But their families had drifted apart as she had other roles to fulfill.

Kayano nodded, smiling, “Yeah, what a crazy coincidence meeting up with you again. What are you doing in E class?” they had both sat down under the tree, taking in the breeze that wafted through the field.

Kouji shrugged, “I had a fight with my parents and Gakushuu, was tired of just being a servant doing my parents’ bidding.”

“Wait a minute, you’re friends with Asano, the Principal’s son?” Kayano asked in disbelief.

Kouji blinked at her before giving a small laugh, “That’s right, your family never really had business with them as ours did. But, yeah, I mean we were. We had a fight towards the middle of last year, so it’s a bit of a touch and go at the moment.” even if they were friends a few years ago, he couldn’t give away anything about his and Gakushuu’s plans.

She nodded, “Ah, I hope you can fix things, at least a little bit.” she said, leaning back and looking to the sky. Suddenly, Kouji smacked his forehead, making a noise between surprise and a laugh, making her look at him, “What is it? Is it something I said?”

He shook his head, “It just reminded me. Before the trip, I ran into Shi- I mean, Nagisa, and he said something along the lines of ‘being able to fix it later on’, but he knew about this whole mess the whole time. He’s a little liar,” he said with an amused huff.

Kayano puffed out her cheeks, turning on him, “Hey, sure he lied about it, but you signed the non-disclosure form too! You know he couldn’t have said anything without risking his memory being wiped!” He flinched a bit when she snapped at him, seeing her glare trained on him, making him back up a little.

“Hey, hey, I was joking! The way you defend him sounds like you like him or something. Besides, if he told me, I would have just been transferred over anyway. It’s just that adults outside of the school can’t know, because other adults will actually listen to them,” he explained, keeping his arms out to keep her back, especially when she took a sharp inhale at him insinuating she liked Nagisa. With a huff, she turned away from him, folding her arms over her chest. “Aw, don’t be like that. I wasn’t serious. You know how I am,” he tried again, leaning back on the tree.

Soon enough, she sat back too, “I know, I was just teasing you too. And I don’t want you rounding on Nagisa about it either, he already has to deal with Karma and Rio’s teasing.” Kayano informed him, shaking her head at the thought.

She blinked though, then looked at him, “That reminds me, you know Karma too, don’t you? Because of your parents?”

“Yeah, we talked a bit, but his type of mischief just wasn’t working out for me. Too violent and taking too many chances. At least Gakushuu plans out his schemes ten steps ahead.” he told her, shrugging a bit, while she nodded in agreement.

They sat in comfortable silence for a few moments, letting the memories wash over them of when he would watch her practice her acting, or her watching him learn about corporations. It felt nice to actually have someone who wasn’t holding a grudge against him to talk to after all this time. He just had to remember not to get on her bad side.

“Oh, wait a minute!” Kayano exclaimed, looking through her pockets, bringing out a small container. “I found this a while ago, I thought you’d might like it,” she said, giving it to him. Kouji blinked, taking the small wrapped gift from her, opening it and finding a ring inside, which made him pause, staring at her, before she got it and gasped, “No, silly, it’s an astronomer ball ring! I’m not proposing to you!” she laughed as Kouji exhaled in mock relief, smiling a bit.

“I know, I just thought it was funny. Anyway, it’s a ball ring?” he asked, picking up the ring and looking at it, seeing the several other loops inside before figuring out how to open them. “Whoa, that’s awesome! Thanks, I’m surprised you remembered I like this stuff,” he said, lightly playing with it before closing the loops back and putting it on, “It fits too. Sweet.” which made her smile and nod.

“Yup, I’m glad you like it. I just remember you fell asleep out on the balcony a few times, looking at books about stars when I saw this,” she said, soon standing and stretching. “Although we should probably get some lunch before next period starts,” and Kouji nodded, standing as well and following her back inside, throwing the packaging away. “And don’t you even start with that either mister, or I’ll just take it back.”

Kouji laughed as they both walked in the door, “I won’t, I promise.” and he went back to his desk, getting his own food out, ignoring the stares he was getting from the others. As far as he knew, they didn’t have to explain anything to the class, so it worked out fine with him.

He felt a bit more relaxed for the rest of the day, although he stumbled a bit when they were actually learning about how to use a gun during PE. It was still so strange to him, and the fact that he never used any kind of weapon, meant he felt embarrassed, even more so when Akabane called him out on it. He kept his cool though, letting Professor Karasuma give him an extra bit of help.

“Sorry sir, but I just never had any sort of training like this. But I’m willing to learn at least.” He said confidently, which made Karasuma nod in approval.

“Keep going with an attitude like that and you’ll be caught up in no time,” he told the student, soon checking on the others as well.

Once PE was over, he noticed how the recoil of the gun made his hands tremble, but gripped his fists hard to stop it, not wanting to seem like a total greenhorn.

Seeing the blonde teacher, Professor Jelavic, made Kouji anxious but smiled when she asked him who he was. “Hello Professor Jelavic, I’m Kouji Inoue, it’s nice to meet you,” putting on his most charming smile, though it almost broke when he saw Kayano fake gag out of the corner of his eye.

The teacher smiled, “Ah, a natural charmer aren’t you? Well, it’s nice to meet you too, as long as you don’t cause me any problems, you won’t have to worry about a thing,” she said, seemingly excited that he actually called her by her name, which made him wonder why.

Until halfway through class when another student raised his hand, “Professor Bitch, I’m having a little trouble with this question, can I get some help?” he almost choked on air, hearing him call her that so casually, but let it pass, focusing on his own work.

After the final bell, he was packing up to get ready to face his parents again, knowing he’d have to “patch things up” before attending any dinners they planned. He looked up when Akabane put his hand down on his desk.

“Hey, Inoue, I heard you’ve been staying at hotels recently. Must be really draining your savings.”

“I’m not sure why that concerns you, Akabane, but I won’t be tonight. I have somewhere to be, and I’m not letting you keep me back.” Kouji countered, getting up and walking out. Getting about halfway down the mountain, he heard Nagisa call out to him, looking back at the blue-haired boy as he raced down to catch up with him.

Nagisa panted a bit as he caught up, looking at him, “Look, I’m sorry, both for lying to you and for Karma’s behavior. He was just trying to get you to come with us, we’re just curious as to how you and Kayano know each other, and she wouldn’t even tell me anything,”

Kouji shrugged, “It’s no big deal, I don’t need to tell Akabane everyone I know. And I get why you lied to me now, don’t worry. I just have to be home tonight is all, but at least I got to see that smirk wiped off Akabane’s face.” he chuckled a bit, feeling the ring on his finger, reminding him of his promise to not tease Nagisa.

Nagisa watched him, “You and Karma really don’t get along, do you?”

“I get why he’s so chaotic, but he takes things too far sometimes. Too far for my liking, anyway, so we never were close. For now though, here's my ride. Have a good one," he said, raising a hand and waving to Nagisa as he walked to the car that was driven by one of his Mother's worker.

He wasn't exactly looking forward to seeing his parents again, but he had to sooner or later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha! I wonder how many of you figured it out after Kei's last chapter? Kouji's family businesses spread out far and wide! Wider than you might think ;) Let's see how this goes down!


	9. Fearful

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We learn a bit more of Kei's homelife, and his reputation with the class goes up!

It felt a little crazy that just after himself and Kouji transferred in that he read the email from Professor Karasuma, saying there was going to be another student joining them. He knew that if they got any more, someone on the main campus would become suspicious about it. Kei couldn’t help but worry, though tried to keep relaxed as he played Pokemon X with Eiji playing Pokemon Y, competing to see who can catch the most pokemon in an hour, sitting back in the living room.

Their parents were out of the house for a while for a meeting with some old friends of theirs to talk about the moon. Even after it’s been a couple of months, they were still consoling each other, praying that it would somehow reform.

“I can’t believe you have your teacher’s email address, much less his number,” Eiji commented as his eyes still focused on the handheld he had.

“Well, we need all the help we can get with our grades, so it’s kinda natural,” Kei said, quietly celebrating as he caught another pokemon before moving onto the next patch of flowers.

“Speaking of which, yours are improving a lot, right? Do you think you’ll get back to the main campus after finals? You have to place in the top fifties at least, and get a signature from your last teacher if I heard right.” he said, frowning as the pokemon he was facing fainted, groaning as he searched some more.

Kei was silent at that, hoping it looked like he was just concentrating on the game. He had been thinking about it, how if he could get his grades up he could leave E-class. Sure, at first when he arrived there, he would have gladly left it behind. But now, he was having doubts.

He would pretty much have a guaranteed future for his education if he could just get back into the main campus, and he had some friends from some of the higher classes, but the whole building was much more strict. He never noticed it before, but he was suffocating in D-class. There was so much pressure coming from every side of him, he needed to turn to secretly taking a sleeping medication just so he had enough rest to last the next day. Even when he was getting his questions answered about some work, he felt like he was just invisible to the teachers.

E-class was like having the lights turned on in a dark room with demon like shadows turning out to be ordinary furniture. He felt seen and heard not only by the other students but the teachers as well, feeling accepted somewhere finally. Kei was having so much fun, learning drawing tips from Sugaya, some cheat codes for different games from Yoshida, even some cooking tips from Terasaka during the night he spent with them at the hotel. It felt so foreign, and yet so right at the same time.

He didn’t know if he wanted to go back to D-class.

“Big bro! Can we have some ice cream?” Yokuto asked, coming to stand by the couch, looking up at him with puppy dog eyes, whimpering a bit and biting his lip to sell Kei on the idea. The eldest shook his head though.

“No Yoku, you need to have dinner first. Don’t worry, Mother and Father will be back soon, we’re having dumplings, your favorite,” he gently reminded him, although that didn’t stop the youngest from pouting, puffing out his cheeks, folding his small arms and looking away, which only served to pull out laughs from both Kei and Eiji as they saved their games, knowing Yokuto wouldn’t leave them alone now.

Kei stood up, stretching and soon ruffled his youngest brother’s hair gently, “Eiji, watch the little twerp, I’m going to check on Hibi, then get the kitchen ready.” Eiji nodded, coming over and picking up Yokuto, saying they’ll watch a bit of his favorite show while they waited as he carried the still huffing child back to his room.

Kei smiled, soon walking to Hibiki’s room and knocking on the door, “Hibiki? How are you doing?” he asked as he opened the door slowly to make sure Hibiki was fine with it. Hibiki turned to Kei, smiling as he put down his pencil to keep track of where he was writing in his journal.

“Yeah, I’m fine Kei! Oh, I was wondering, you have a really good literature teacher, right?” Hibiki asked, looking at him hopefully. Kei nodded, walking over to him, “Well… Um… I was wondering… Could you have them take a look at this story? I wanna know how much I’ve been improving.” he asked shyly, holding out another set of papers that he pulled from his desk. It wasn’t very big, but it was more than what any other eleven-year-olds were willing to write that he knew of.

Kei smiled, “That’s the story about the girl who met and befriended a sea dragon, right? Of course, I’ll take it, I’m sure they wouldn’t mind. Go ahead and put it in my bag in my room so I won’t forget.” he ruffled Hibiki’s head, making the third oldest giggle happily before nodding, going out of the room to Kei’s to find his bag.

After half an hour, they had the house spotless once more, just before their parents entered, greeting them all happily.

As always, the four of them did their prayers to the spirits of the world as their parents prepared dinner, talking about their days. And as always, the dinner table was quiet as they ate, a bit of tension remaining over them all.

Kei wasn’t sure when this quiet time started. It certainly wasn’t always like this, he knew that, but one day everything just changed. Before, his parents would ask them how their days were, and how much fun they had with their friends at school. Now, they just sat in silence, no one exactly knowing how to break it really. It was probably in how tense their postures were that kept the boys from speaking.

Soon enough, dinner was done, and after Yokuto finally got his ice cream, all the boys washing up and wishing their parents good night, heading to their rooms. Kei would usually use an hour or two trying to catch up on work, but he had it all done before their parents left for once. So he laid down in his bed, staring at the ceiling, trying to will himself to get tired. That’s when his phone buzzed, signaling a text as he grabbed it and flipped it open, seeing it was from Chikami.

Chikami [Sent 8:30 PM]: Yo Kei, what’s up? You awake being boring?

Kei [Sent 8:31 PM]: If you mean doing my actual homework instead of waiting till the tardy bell to do it? No, actually, I got it all done before. What trouble have you gotten into lately? We haven’t talked much since I moved to E-class.

Chikami [Sent 8:33 PM]: Wow, that’s a first, good job! And not much, my parents are always watching me like a hawk since I almost failed midterms, what was up with that sudden spike in difficulty anyway? And how is E-class anyway? Is it as bad as they say?

Kei [Sent 8:34 PM]: Actually, it’s more bizarre than bad. Mostly a lot of pranks, but it doesn’t really matter. And I’m pretty sure I heard whisperings of the fact someone from E-class stood up to Tanaka and Takada. I think it was Nagisa, after assembly.

Chikami [Sent 8:36 PM]: Wait, Nagisa, the little dude with the blue hair? Good for him, but he shouldn’t make us work harder for it.

Kei [Sent 8:38 PM]: I have a suspicion that it would have been amped up, either way, so don’t blame him. Also “little dude with the blue hair”? Really?

Chikami [Sent 8:39 PM]: Oh come on, I think he’s adorable honestly. I would date him if he was looking for someone.

Kei [Sent 8:40 PM]: Pfft, I’m telling.

Chikami [Sent 8:40 PM]: NOOOOOOOOOO! DON’T YOU DARE!

Kei laughed as he was bombarded by accusations of being a jerk text after text, being quiet about it as he kept teasing her. They’ve been friends since elementary, and one thing was for sure, Chikami would always be Chikami.

They talked for a few more minutes before she had to leave to go to bed, and so Kei laid on his back once more, finally able to drift off to sleep.

The next day, Kei was walking up the mountain, getting used to how humid it was, when he heard Nagisa, Isogai, and Sugino up ahead, soon catching up to them, “Morning guys, what are you talking about?” he asked, walking beside them.

“Good morning Kei, we were just talking about the new transfer student Professor Karasuma emailed us about last night, you read it right?” Nagisa greeted, while Isogai waved a hand and Sugino let out a “Yo, what’s up”.

Suddenly Okajima was in front of them, “Did you get a pic?!” he yelled, making them all jump back a bit, with Sugino commenting on his ninja skills. “When I heard about the transfer student, I wanted to know more about them, so I asked Professor Karasuma for a picture. Ask and you shall receive!” he explained, taking out his own phone and showing them all the picture of a purple haired girl as his background photo.

While the four of them talked about it, Kei couldn’t help but think something was off. His suspicions were proven true once they entered the classroom, seeing a mysterious black machine at one of the desks. Everyone was staring at it, Kouji seemed unnerved by it.

They all gathered around it, curious when the screen had lit up, showing the “face” of the new girl Okajima was just raving about. “Hello fellow classmates, I am known as AIFA, an acronym for Autonomous Intelligence Fixed Artillery. It’s nice to meet you all.” Just about everyone was confused about this turn of events, though Kei’s eyes were sparkling with wonder.

Karasuma had explained her situation, saying she came from Sweden, and as usual, Korosensei welcomed her with open tentacles. The day started out as normal, but then guns were opened from her panels, shooting at their teacher, making everyone having to take cover from the hail of bb’s that were ricocheting off the walls.

It was at lunch when everyone was cleaning when he overheard Karma and Kouji talking.

“Do you know anything about these guys?”

“They’re long distance partners, our Sweden branches deal with them mostly. As far as I know, my parents never talked to them face to face.”

Kei would never willingly tell anyone, but he had always been so fascinated by coding and computers in general. It was taking all of his willpower to not just go over and gush about having an actual AI in the class, instead focusing on cleaning up the bb’s left in her wake. He did a lot of it, after having to clean up after his three brothers, so it went by quick.

To be honest, though, he was getting tired of the hail of gunfire just as much as the rest of the class, as it started back up again. He was left alone in the room with her during PE since Korosensei had to leave to get his own work done.  
Kei had so many questions for her, just wanting to blurt out everything he thought, but instead, he brought out Hibiki’s story and got up, going out and soon finding Professor Jelavic in the faculty lounge. “Um, Professor Jelavic? Are you busy?” he asked, peeking in.

He hadn’t taken to the class’ nickname for her, mostly because he didn’t have the same first impression as everyone else. It made her happy that he didn’t and respected her as she was, first and foremost an assassin and teacher. Irina looked up from her laptop and shook her head, “No, I’m not, what’s up?”

“Well, I was actually wondering if you could look at a story of my brother’s. He said he wanted a professional to give it a read, and I know you’d be able to help give him advice.” He said, coming fully into the room. “It’s okay if you say no, but with your experience in literature and grammar, I just thought it’d be best if you did it,”

Irina beamed, “Oh, your brother wants to be a writer? That’s nice. Bring it here, I’ll go over it when I get the chance tonight.” she said, holding her hand out to take the papers, which he gave to her. “Wait, your brother wrote all of this?”

Kei nodded, “Yeah, he has some amazing stories. This one is about a little girl befriending a sea dragon after finding it was injured. He became her guardian of sorts, going with her to school and dealing with anyone who bullied her,” he explained.

Irina saw how much Kei cared for his brothers, the sparkle in his eyes a giant give away. It was nice seeing he was so willing to help them out. She had to admit she had a soft spot for him, once she learned about his brothers that grew for her. “I’ll make sure to give him what advice he needs, he has another copy, right?”

“Yeah, I let him use my laptop whenever I’m not using it.”

“That’s good. Now then, I’m just wondering, are you really not interested in the reward money? Even a religious boy like you must have financial needs, hun.” She asked, having been curious about his unwillingness to participate in the assassination attempts.

He shook his head, “I just don’t feel right about it. Besides, to be honest, I think Korosensei is either unsure or outright lying about his own claims that he’ll destroy the planet. I don’t know. It just seems strange that he wants to blow up the Earth, but at the same time, he’s waiting for a whole year? Not to mention he wants to spend that time teaching a dead end class like us? He just seems so genuinely fond of us, so why make us kill him?” Kei put a lot of thought into this for the past week and more as he known Korosensei. He could see that everyone else was being blinded by the reward money or the “fact” that he’ll destroy the planet. But Kei had been watching his teacher closely, without the thought of killing to cloud his judgment. And he’s been confused out of his mind ever since, probably overthinking it all.

Irina did not know how to respond to this. Up until now, she had just seen a pure and decent priest boy getting ready to take over the shrine. She hadn’t paid enough attention to notice how sharp his eyes could get, of how deep in thought he would be. Thinking back, she wasn’t sure why his grades were failing, he was one of the quicker students to figure out the problems and questions she set for them, pulling from the context of just everything about what she told them.

She could see that, given enough time, Kei could probably learn anything about anyone without them realizing, and she wasn’t sure whether to be impressed or afraid of that fact. Just who was this boy?

Before she could ask anything else, she got a ping from her laptop, showing a new message. She frowned, “Sorry kid, but I have work to do. We’ll talk later, alright?” with that, Kei nodded, deciding to go out and watch the class for the rest of the time.

When Maehara saw him, he waved him down, “Hey Kei! You should come show us some moves!” which made the girls look confused.

“What are you talking about Maehara?” Karasuma asked, looking between them. Kei groaned a bit.

“Maehara, are you going to tell the whole world on me or something?”

“He’s a black belt in a dojo!”

Both boys talked at the same time, which made Karasuma pause. He looked to Kei, “Is that true?”

He nodded, coming over, “Yes, my Uncle has a dojo I’ve been training in since I was six, one group found out and they told everyone else,” he said, sending a slight glare over to Isogai who just looked away, whistling, making Karma laugh. “I get PE credit from there, that’s why I’ve been excused from your classes, sir.”

Karasuma nodded a bit, “I see… Well, since the octopus isn’t around, would you like to show us something? You don’t need to of course, but I’m sure the others are just curious and won’t stop bugging you about it until you do. And I’d rather it be against someone who’s experienced and during school hours,” Even after only being there for a short time, he knew what a chaotic bunch of kids E-class was made up of. This was one of the less surprising instances he’s faced with.

Kei nodded a bit, “Yeah, I better, not much else to do anyway. Let me get changed, I’ll be back,” with that, he headed to the changing rooms, having brought an extra pair of gym clothes. The other boys celebrated, excited to see what their quiet classmate could do.

“See, I told you it was a bad idea to let the others in on this,”

“Sorry, I was just excited, it’s not every day one of our classmates has a black belt in martial arts,”

“Save it for Kei you dumb-dumb. Besides, he agreed, no reason to fret over it,”

The other boys chatted while they waited, with Kei soon coming back out, dressed in the school’s gym uniform.

Karasuma and Kei stood opposite of each other, the class eagerly surrounding the two of them, though giving them enough room. Kei was the one to make the first move, rushing in, feinting to the right, getting a jab into Karasuma’s side, the class cheering as Karasuma stumbled back having taken by surprise. Kei followed him, knocking his feet out from under him, but then he stopped.

Karasuma watched him. Something was wrong. He was shaking, looking at his hands, though stopped before anyone else took notice. “Professor Karasuma, are you okay? I didn’t mean to throw you down so hard,” he said instead, holding out a hand to help him up, which Karasuma took.

“I’m fine, just was surprised is all. Good job,” He decided he would talk to Kei after school, not wanting to pressure him in front of the class and make him possibly run. The guys all cheered, patting Kei on the back while he tried to push them away, embarrassed by all the attention.

Soon enough, it was time for everyone to get changed and ready for the next period, which was much quieter as it was Irina’s class, leaving the AI to take a break.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of a cliffhanger, sorry, but I have something more planned for Kei so don't worry! And Chikami is my own OC who's in B class, I just wanted to add her to add more to the other classes other than A and E class, seeing how they react to what happens.


	10. False Danger?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kouji goes home and gets a haircut! :D... Okay, but seriously, his family is strict with him. And there's more to his guests than he knows.

The ride home was silent, as Kouji expected. He used to be close to the workers that would pick him up and drop him off at school, but since he’s been away, none have spoken with him. It hurt a bit, but he understood why. To them, he was just a spoiled brat going through his teen years. Why would they care about a kid who shunned their employers, even if he was their kid? So instead he took to looking through his phone, suddenly receiving a text from Gakushuu.

Spawn of the Exorcist [Sent 3:57 PM]: So, did you learn anything more?

Bees Knees Man [Sent 3:59 PM]: Sorry, but I have to take everything in before I can really give a report. It’s not normal, is all I can say for now.

Spawn of the Exorcist [Sent 4:00 PM]: So there must be something big going on. Well do what you have to, but don’t get caught. I need you to stay out of trouble, especially with the school.

Bees Knees Man [Sent 4:01 PM]: You got it. I have to go, just now pulled up into the driveway.

Kouji had been taken aback by the nickname Gakushuu had for him, only now remembering how stupidly funny it was. He bit back a laugh as he texted back, soon relaxed enough to get out of the car with a straight face.

The place they lived in was a mansion, towards the edge of town. It was large, and most of his family lived together, having businesses to take care of with each other. His parents were the heads of the family, making sure everything ran smoothly.

Before, he always loved how well tended the garden and lawn were, but now, it just seemed invasive. Too well groomed, he couldn’t count how many flowers were cut from the bushes just because they had small blemishes.

He felt for them because he saw himself in them somewhat. A flower that was being kept to the standard of others. If he wilted anymore, then even he might…

Kouji shook his head, soon entering the mansion, seeing his father and mother waiting for him. Fake smiles plastered on their faces as he came in. “Kouji, welcome home my darling!” His mother fawned, coming over and holding him close. For a brief second, he felt like he was a kid again, a pain in his heart as he imagined all the times his parents had truly been happy with him. It quickly passed, as he returned the gesture, seeing his extended family had peeked out of rooms to see if it was him.

“I’m sorry for worrying you, Mother, I’ve just been confused is all,” he lied back to her, just as smooth as ever. She smiled at him, petting his hair.

“It’s alright Kouji, come, let’s take care of this curtain of hair, then we’ll have dinner, okay?” she said, leading him off to one of the stylists they had living with them. He was grateful for this at least, his hair has been giving him trouble for a while.

Once he was all primed to his Mother’s satisfaction, which took only an hour since the stylist was an expert and had his look down pat, they went to the kitchen, three other pairs of uncles and aunties were already there talking.

They were all talking about their businesses and work, so he sat at his usual place, his things having been taken up to his room already. Then he saw a woman and a someone in pure white robes come out of one of the guest areas with his father, and for some reason, his gut was telling him this wouldn’t be good.

His father brought them over, “And you remember Kouji, right Shiro?” he said, gesturing to the person in white robes. They nodded, their eyes shining with a hidden smile.

“Yes, we met when you were just a baby though Kouji, so you wouldn’t remember,” Shiro commented, seeing Kouji was looking at him strangely.

“Right, of course, it’s nice to meet you again, sir,” Kouji said, standing and taking the handshake that was offered to him. Shiro’s hand was cold, even through the gloves he wore, and his grip was strong, though Kouji made sure not to show it.

He then turned to look at the woman, who his father soon introduced, “And this is Lady Minako, she is a new partner of Shiro’s at the lab,” and the woman smiled, her long black hair pulled into a bun, and her yellow eyes seemed to pierce into Kouji’s being, showing a fierceness that he knew he shouldn’t trust. But just to appease his father, Kouji shook her hand as well.

“It’s nice to meet you, Lady Minako,” he said, careful about them both.

“Dinner will be done in an hour or so, and Kouji, they said they wanted to talk with you about a scholarship from the school, so be respectful young man,”

Later that night, he texted with Kayano.

Kouji [Sent 8:32 PM] Hey, are you there? I need to talk to someone…

Akari [Sent 8:33 PM] Yeah, I’m here, are you okay at your place?

Kouji [Sent 8:34 PM] I just… Had met up with some weird people. They gave me an offer...

The next day, Kouji had walked into the class first, having wanted to get away from home as fast as possible. He knew what would come, having heard about their Swedish branch doing some big project, seeing the machine in one of the seats. He frowned, but sat down at his chair anyway, taking in the silence.

The door opened soon after, showing Karasuma, who looked at him, “Good morning Kouji, I’m a bit surprised to see you here this early.” he commented, giving a glance to the strange black box. “I imagine your parents talked about this?” he said after a moment of silence.

Kouji nodded, “Yes, they did. Sorry Professor, but I’m not really in the mood to talk right now,” he said quietly, thinking on what was discussed last night. Karasuma blinked, watching him, “It’s fine, just a little tired,” he lied, putting his hand on his head. Karasuma saw he wasn’t going to get any more out of him, so he left to talk with Irina and Korosensei about the new “student”.

When Kayano walked in and saw him, she walked over, “Are you okay?”

“Oh, hey Kayano. Yeah, I’m fine, just had a lot of things dropped on me last night,” he admitted, sighing. She could understand after he told her what happened with his “guests”.

Kayano nodded, looking at the box soon after, “Wait, what is that?”

“Our new transfer student,”

“Okay, why?”

The way she said it, with just the lack of expression, managed to make Kouji laugh a bit, and he knew she was just doing it to do so when he saw her smile at him, “She’s an AI, fixed artillery machine. From Sweden,” he told her, relaxing somewhat, though looking at the machine once more. He knew she could hear them, she was just reserving her processors for when Korosensei gets in.

Soon the other students started to file in, staring at the strange machine at the desk. Karasuma had explained what she was and why she was here. Kouji couldn’t help but stare as Korosensei had welcomed her so warmly, even though she was basically designed to kill him. He had a feeling he would never understand the strange octopus teacher.

Just like everyone else, he had to hide under cover once she started her attack, thinking of the other student coming their way.

During lunch, he sighed, shaking his head as they all cleaned the bbs off the floor. “So, do you know what else it can do, or are you in the dark from not being at your parent’s place, Inoue?” Akabane asked, leaning on a desk having cleared out his area.

“As far as I know, it’s set to learn enemy patterns faster than any other AI in production right now. Its creators are looking to use the reward for putting it in militarian machines.” Kouji responded, ignoring his jab at Kouji’s home life. Akabane nodded, looking at it.

At that moment, he could feel a sort of truce made with the other, to make sure the machine didn’t get too out of hand.

The rest of the day went just the same, though they had some respite of peace during PE. He was just as bad, stumbling around with the anti-sensei knife, relieved when Kei had come to disrupt training. He himself never took interest in it, but knowing that Kei was going to be a priest piqued his interest, so he stood with the others to watch him face off with Karasuma.

It was quick, Kei’s moves were smooth, but Kouji saw the sudden fear in his eyes as he knocked Karasuma off his feet. He knew this shouldn’t be normal, but Kei recovered soon enough. He and Kayano looked at each other, nodding a bit in agreement that they should talk to him later. Sure Kouji and Kei weren’t close, but Kouji wasn’t heartless.

At the end of school, just as they were about to approach Kei, Kouji’s phone was ringing, and he saw it was Gakushuu. He motioned to Kayano that he had to go, going out to the back and answering it. “Gakushuu, why are you calling so suddenly?”

“Come to the public library, there’s something we need to talk about,”

With that, Gakushuu suddenly hung up, making Kouji blink before pocketing his phone, heading down the mountain towards the library as instructed after sending a quick text to Kayano to say why he disappeared. He could always talk with Kei in class another time anyway.

Once he was there, he quickly spotted Gakushuu sitting down in a quiet corner, walking over. “Okay, what’s up? Something wrong?” he asked, sitting down across from the other boy.

“During lunch today, the Principal told me we were not to speak to each other again, as we both probably predicted, and that I was to stay home during dinners,” Gakushuu explained, his hands held together on the table. Kouji nodded, now realizing why he had called him so suddenly.

“So, onto plan C?”

“Yes, it should work for our situation for now, as long as your parents don’t bar you from still living in hotels,” Gakushuu agreed, giving a bit of a smirk to Kouji who rolled his eyes.

“You know I’d still do it either way,” he commented, leaning back a bit, catching sight of someone in a black suit, making him stiff up, “Speaking of which, I better go now, stay safe at home,” he said, standing up, motioning to the adult, who Gakushuu saw and nodded to him.

With that, both of the boys quickly left, Kouji taking the back streets to lose whoever might be following him.

He only relaxed when he got towards the opposite side of town, checking behind him every so often. Once he knew the coast was clear, Kouji turned onto the main road, bumping into Kei which surprised them both, making them yelp at the sudden appearance of the other.

“Kei Saito? What are you doing so far out here?”

“Kouji Inoue, why are you going around the alleyways?”

Both paused, looking at each other as they asked their questions at the same time before laughing the tension off. “Sorry, but I think I was being followed, what about you?” Kouji said first, pointing behind him. Kei shrugged, looking away, quiet, making Kouji frown at him, “Seriously, are you okay? I saw you freeze in fear when you knocked Professor Karasuma down.” he said, putting a hand on the other’s shoulder.

Kei blinked, looking at him, “Oh, yeah… Just, I’m a bit afraid and confused, I guess, but nothing to really worry about.” he said, soon falling into step with Kouji. “What are we going to do about that AI though? I mean just the thought of what coding she has is amazing, but no one can focus on class,” he diverted the conversation before Kouji could ask more.

Kouji nodded, “That’s true, but there’s not much we can do, she’s protected and if anything is broken, the one who does will have to pay for it,” he said, looking up to the sky, watching as it changed to a nice indigo color.

“True, wait, you were being followed?” Kei asked, staring at Kouji who shrugged.

“Relax, it was just an agent, probably saw me talking to Gakushuu,” he explained, waving his hand in his face dismissively. Then he paused, “Wait, that sounded so weird, didn’t it?”

“This whole class is weird, so it’s valid,” Kei supported, awkwardly laughing and rubbing the back of his head. Kouji nodded, stretching a bit, when Kei looked ahead, “Well, guess we’ll talk later? My home is coming up unless you want to stay the night,” Kei offered, to which Kouji shook his head.

“Thanks for the offer, but that’d be too easy a place for them to track me to, stay safe,” he said, soon turning another way, waving his hand.

“Yeah, you too,” Kei soon turned down the mostly empty road towards his house, relaxed.

Kouji couldn’t help but feel paranoid for the rest of the night, feeling something was off, but he didn’t know what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love working with Kouji's family, just how manipulative they try to be with him, yet he can just see what's going on exactly. Also, do you recognize a certain someone from one of Kei's earlier chapters? Mwahahaha. Have fun! Take care!


	11. Apologies

Okay, I hate to do this, but I think this story is going to be on hold, at least until I'm up to season 2 with it, sorry but I just feel kinda stressed with some things right now. But it will be back! I could never just abandon this story! Just, not going to post for it for a while. Anyway, I hope you have a good one! Take care!


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